Mixing apparatus

ABSTRACT

Mixing apparatus for thoroughly mixing two or more ingredients irregardless of their respective densities. The apparatus includes first mixing means in the form of a housing having a plurality of mixing pins projecting from its inner surface and second mixing means in the form of a circular disk also having a plurality of mixing pins projecting from its respective surfaces. The disk is positioned within the housing and operatively aligned therein such that the respecting mixing pins projecting therefrom are intersticially disposed in a cooperating relationship with respect to the mixing pins projecting from the housing. The apparatus further includes an eccentric drive for moving at least one of the mixing means relative to the other mixing means such that the respective pins projecting from the moved mixing means orbit about the corresponding pins projecting from the stationary mixing means so as to define respective closed paths.

United States Patent Coenraad [s41 MIXING APPARATUS [72] lnventor: Van Rli Coenrnd, Sinnigvelderstraat 621,

Weesp, Netherlands [22] Filed: April I4, 1971 [21]- AppLNo; 133,837

[52] U.S.Cl. ..259/5, 259/DIG. 30 [51] lnt.Cl. ..B0li7/00 [58] Field olSearch ..259/DlG. 30,4. 5, 19, 21. 259/37, 40, 102, 99, 2, DIG. 8-DlG. 12; 107/30 B, 31, 36

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 752,226 2/1904 Hudson ..l07/30 B 833,089 10/1906 Scheuch ..259/D1G. 8 2,687,877 8/1954 Jensen ..259/DlG. 30

Primary Examiner- Walter A. Scheel [57] ABSTRACT Mixing apparatus for thoroughly mixing two or more ingredients irregardless of their respective densities. The apparatus includes first mixing means in the form of a housing having a plurality of mixing pins projecting from its inner surface and second mixing means in the form of a circular disk also having a plurality of mixing pins projecting from its respective surfaces. The disk is positioned within the housing and operatively aligned therein such that the respecting mixing pins projecting therefrom are intersticially disposed in a cooperating relationship with respect to the mixing pins projecting from the housing. The apparatus further includes an eccentric drive for moving at least one of the mixing means relative to the other mixing means such that the respective pins projecting from the moved mixing means orbit about the corresponding pins projecting from the stationary mixing.

means so as to define respective closed paths.

10 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures \lll i C r j|l M 1 i H i n Z PATETEJME @972 3, 79,1 1

SHEU 0F INVENTOR COENRAAD saw I? MIXING APPARATUS The invention relates to a mixing apparatus comprising a housing provided with means for the supply of the material and means for the discharge of the material, at the inside of which housing project pins, at least a single body mounted inside said housing, which body is provided with pins on its outside which extend approximately parallel with and among the pins of the housing, and driving means for moving housing and body with respect to one another in such away that the pins of the body and the pins of the housing pass one another in movmg.

Such a mixing apparatus is used, for example, in pastryshops and bakeries, leatherette, foam rubber and confectionary industries for mixing together two or more ingredients in the form of particles and/or paste and/or liquid and/or gas.

With mixing apparatuses of this type known in the art the aforesaid body provided with pins on its outside is disc-like cylindrical or conical in shape and is only adapted to rotate within the housing about its own axis; therefore the pins describe circular paths about a centrally disposed central axis; the radii of the paths being equal to the distances of the pins with respect to said centrally disposed central axis.

If said mixing apparatus is used for mixing together ingredients with a considerable variety in density, the heavy ingredients will have a tendency to let themselves be pressed outwardly to a further extent than the lighter ingredients, in other words the mixing together of light and heavy ingredients is considerably interfered with.

it is an object of the present invention to avoid said disadvantage and to provide a mixing apparatus of the type previously indicated in which the pins of the aforesaid housing and of the aforesaid body are moved in such a path with respect to one another that the resulting centrifugal forces will neutralize one another, which has a favorable effect on the capacity of the apparatus.

To this end the driving gear produces such a relative translation movement of housing and body according to the invention that the pins of the driven part describe congruent, closed paths about the pins of the stationary part.

It is possible in essence that either the housing or the body or both are driven. However, if the body is driven, which is preferable, each pin of the aforesaid body will generally describe a circular path having a small radius about a pin of the aforesaid housing. The body does not rotate about its own axis.

The mixing efficiency is increased if the pins of the housing and/or the pins of the body are unround, i.e., other than round in cross-section. To this end, the respective pins 3 and 4 are square in cross-section in the illustrated embodiment.

The driving means may be constructed in various manners. A favorable possibility for driving the body consists in that the aforesaid body is engaged by a shaft which is rotatably supported over at least part of its length within the eccentric central passage of a rotatably driven bushing mounted in a central position with respect to the housing, means being present to prevent the shaft from rotating about its own central axis.

There are many conceivable structures for the driven body. From an engineering point of view it is preferable, however, that the aforesaid body comprises a circular disc mounted in a position within a cylindrical housing, whereby the center of the disc is engaged by a driving shaft.

To prevent the shaft from rotating, a double universal joint may be applied between the end of the shaft and a fixed member.

It is generally undesirable for the material to be mixed to be passed into the driving gear, particularly into the aforesaid bushing. It is for this reason that the interior of the housing is separated from the interior of the driving means by a flexible and frictionless sealing member.

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the figures wherein a diagrammatic view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown.

FIG. 1 shows a longitudinal section of the apparatus.

FIG. 2 shows a cross-section of the apparatus along the line ll-ll in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows a cross-section of the apparatus along the line III-Ill in FIG. 1.

Referring to the drawings, the mixing apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention comprises a stationary cylindrical housing 1 in which is mounted a circular disc 2 which is to be driven along a given path. At the inside of the two end faces of the housing project a great many pins 3. The disc 2 is provided with projecting pins 4 on either side. For the sake of clarity the pins 3 projecting from the housing 1 are not hatched in the section shown in FIG. 2, while the pins 4, projecting from the disc 2, are hatched therein.

The disc 2 is mounted in an eccentric position with respect to the housing. The center of the disc is engaged by a shaft 5. Said shaft and the disc fixed thereto may be driven by driving means 6.

Said driving means comprises an outer stationary bushing 7 and an inner rotatable bushing 8. The central passage of the latter bushing has an eccentric orientation with respect to the outer circumference. The shaft 5 is supported in a central position within the central passage of the bushing 8 by means of the bearings 9, while the bushing 8 with its outer circumference is supported in a central position within the fixed bushing 7 by means of the bearings 10.

The rotatable bushing 8 is fixed to a disc 1 l to be driven by a motor not shown in the drawing.

Between the end of the shaft 5 and a fixed part is provided a double universal joint 12 which prevents the shaft from rotating about its own axis.

If the bushing 8 is rotated by the disc 11, the shaft 5 and thus the disc 2 will perform a circular translation movement, the radius of which is equal to the distance between the center of the shaft and the center of the outer circumference of the bushing 8. Said radius is also equal to the distance between the center of the disc 2 and the center of the housing 1.

In the illustrated embodiment each of the pins 4 of the disc 2 will rotate about a pin 3 of the housing; the paths circumscribed by the respective pins 4 are congruent and equal to the path which is indicated with a curved arrow near the center of the disc in FIG. 2.

The apparatus described above is designed for mixing together a number of ingredients in the form of solid particles and/or pastes and/or gases. The substances to be mixed are fed to the apparatus under a given pressure at inlet 13 and are then passed among the pins 3 and 4 moving with respect to one another at that side of the disc 2 which is turned towards the supply device 13. At that side the substances will move in an outward direction and arrive at the other side of the disc, where it will again respectively pass among pins 3 and 4 moving with respect to one another. Finally the mixed substances will attain the discharge device 14.

Due to the specially chosen travelling path of the pins 4 about the pins 3 a very intensive mixing is attained without it being possible for the light and heavy particles to be separated by centrifugal forces. This may be of great advantage in comparison with mixing apparatuses in which the pins of the disc rotate about a common shaft within a housing provided with pins.

It will be apparent that it is not necessary for the travelling path of the pins to be circular, although this is indeed the most easily generated movement.

It is essential to the invention that the disc 2 should perform a closed translation movement and should not rotate and that all the pins 4 (or if the housing moves, all the pins 3) should describe an identical closed path, whereby there is a pin 3 (respectively a pin 4) within each path of a pin 4 (respectively a pin 3). The circular disc may also be replaced by a differently shaped body, a conical body for instance.

Within the scope of the present invention many alternative structures for the driving means 6 are possible. Driving means with a cam disc, for instance, would be suitable for the production of a non-circular, closed translation movement of the pins.

To prevent the substances being mixed together from passing into the driving means 6 there is provided a flexible sealing member between the shaft 5 and a fixed part of the connection between the housing 1 and the bushing 7.

Hollow portions 16 are provided on either side of the housing 1 which can be used for the circulation of a cooling or heating medium.

If it is desired that one or more of the ingredients not be added to the mixture until a certain mixing together of the other ingredients has taken place, one or more additional inlets 17 can be provided for adding ingredients at the point where the material is passed from one side of the disc 2 to the other side thereof.

It will be apparent that more than one disc provided with pins can be provided on the shaft 5. The housing will then be provided with partition plates between the discs. In that case pins will be provided on either side of the partition plates as well.

I claim:

1. In a mixing apparatus including a housing having at least one inlet and one outlet opening, the combination comprising, first mixing means within said housing and having a plurality of mixing pins projecting from a surface thereof, second mixing means within said housing and having a plurality of mixing pins projecting from a surface thereof, said second mixing means being operatively aligned with said first mixing means such that the respective mixing pins projecting therefrom are intersticially disposed in a cooperative relationship with respect to the mixing pins projecting from said first mixing means, and drive means for moving at least one of said mixing means relative to the other of said mixing means so that the respective mixing pins projecting from said one mixing means orbit respectively about corresponding mixing pins projecting from said other mixing means so as to define respective closed paths.

2. Mixing apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein at least one of said pluralities of pins are other than round in crosssection.

3. Mixing apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said first mixing means is integral with said housing.

4. Mixing apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said first mixing means is stationary and said second mixing means is driven.

5. Mixing apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein at least said second mixing means comprises a circular, flat disk.

6. Mixing apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said drive means includes an eccentrically driven shaft.

7. Mixing apparatus as set forth in claim 6, further including means to prevent said shaft from rotating about its own axis.

8. Mixing apparatus as set forth in claim 7, wherein said last mentioned means comprises a double universal joint respectively connected between one end of the shaft and a fixed member.

9. Mixing apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein the interior of said housing is separated from said drive means by means of a flexible and frictionless sealing member.

10. In a mixing apparatus including a housing having at least one inlet and one outlet opening, the combination comprising first mixing means integral with the interior of said housing and having a plurality of mixing pins projecting from a surface thereof, second mixing means within said housing and having a plurality of mixing pins projecting from a surface thereof, said second mixing means being operatively aligned with said first mixing means such that the respective mixing pins projecting therefrom are intersticially disposed in a cooperative relationship with respect to the mixing pins projecting from said first mixing means, and drive means for moving said second mixing means relative to said first mixing means so that the respective mixing pins projecting from the driven mixing means orbit respectively about corresponding mixing pins projecting from the stationary mixing means so as to define respective closed paths. 

1. In a mixing apparatus including a housing having at least one inlet and one outlet opening, the combination comprising, first mixing means within said housing and having a plurality of mixing pins projecting from a surface thereof, second mixing means within said housing and having a plurality of mixing pins projecting from a surface thereof, said second mixing means being operatively aligned with said first mixing means such that the respective mixing pins projecting therefrom are intersticially disposed in a cooperative relationship with respect to the mixing pins projecting from said first mixing means, and drive means for moving at least one of said mixing means relative to the other of said mixing means so that the respective mixing pins projecting from said one mixing means orbit respectively about corresponding mixing pins projecting from said other mixing means so as to define respective closed paths.
 2. Mixing apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein at least one of said pluralities of pins are other than round in cross-section.
 3. Mixing apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said first mixing means is integral with said housing.
 4. Mixing apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said first mixing means is stationary and said second mixing means is driven.
 5. Mixing apparatus as sEt forth in claim 1, wherein at least said second mixing means comprises a circular, flat disk.
 6. Mixing apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said drive means includes an eccentrically driven shaft.
 7. Mixing apparatus as set forth in claim 6, further including means to prevent said shaft from rotating about its own axis.
 8. Mixing apparatus as set forth in claim 7, wherein said last mentioned means comprises a double universal joint respectively connected between one end of the shaft and a fixed member.
 9. Mixing apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein the interior of said housing is separated from said drive means by means of a flexible and frictionless sealing member.
 10. In a mixing apparatus including a housing having at least one inlet and one outlet opening, the combination comprising first mixing means integral with the interior of said housing and having a plurality of mixing pins projecting from a surface thereof, second mixing means within said housing and having a plurality of mixing pins projecting from a surface thereof, said second mixing means being operatively aligned with said first mixing means such that the respective mixing pins projecting therefrom are intersticially disposed in a cooperative relationship with respect to the mixing pins projecting from said first mixing means, and drive means for moving said second mixing means relative to said first mixing means so that the respective mixing pins projecting from the driven mixing means orbit respectively about corresponding mixing pins projecting from the stationary mixing means so as to define respective closed paths. 